Molly & Arthur The Beginning
by GringottsVault711
Summary: COMPLETE. It's Molly Prewett's fifth year at Hogwarts - and she begins to realized that lovable-but-odd Arthur Weasley may see her as more than a friend. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1: Prefects & Fellytones

**A/N: I never see Molly/Arthur fics - and that sucks, because I think they are just adorable (think about it - they're the only successful, long-term couple we know, except for the Dursleys - and the Weasley's are the BEST family EVER!). So, here's my take on how their love blossomed. Please R/R.**

**Prefects & Fellytones**

It was September 1st, and Platform 9 ¾ was bustling with Hogwarts students ready for the new school year. All around owls squawked in their cages as children chattered about how their summers had gone. Standing in the midst of all the chaos was Molly Prewett, a short, red-haired, fifth year girl. She was scanning the crowds looking for her friends, but so far she hadn't spotted a single familiar face. Suddenly, she heard someone call her name.

"Molly!"

She turned, to see a thin, tall boy with red hair almost as bright as her own approaching her.

"Hello, Arthur," she said politely. "How was your summer?"

"It was brilliant," he said. "I went to some to a Muggle art museum in London, and not a single one of the paintings moved. Not one bit. Mad, isn't it?"

"Yes, quite..._mad_," she raised her eyebrow at him. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that Arthur Weasley, though very kind, was a quite odd. He had a strange obsession with Muggles. He hung around Molly quite a bit, which could be irritating at times, but he was very sweet, so she didn't mind – much.

"How was your summer?" he asked.

"Just lovely. I've been made a prefect – third in my family to do so."

"That's great – I've been made a prefect as well!" he said, beaming at her.

"_You've _been made a prefect?" she asked. "You do nothing but cause trouble, Arthur!"

"Ah, yes – but it is always in the interests of having a good time. That's what counts..."

"Rules are rules, Arthur Weasley. They are not meant to be stepped on, bent, or broken," her eyes flashed. "If you are a prefect, you are going to have to behave yourself. I am not going to do the work for both of us."

"Don't worry, Molly. I won't let you down," he promised, winking at her

"You better not," she warned.

"Molly!"

Molly turned to see Maeve Glenwood, her best friend, rushing towards her.

"Maeve! You look wonderful – what have you been doing this summer?"

"I went to Majorca for the holidays..."

"I thought you looked tan..."

Arthur shrunk into the background, feeling forgotten. Molly and Maeve began to walk away. Arthur was just leaving for the prefects' car, when Molly turned around –

"Bye, Arthur – I'll see you in a few minute – on the train."

He turned to smile and wave, but in doing so he knocked a second-year to the ground. He rushed to help him, but the second-year just jumped up in fright, grabbed his things and ran off as quickly as he could. When Arthur looked up to see if Molly had witnessed his show of clumsiness, he saw that she had already turned around and was walking in the opposite direction. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed.

"Could he get any stupider?" laughed Maeve, as they turned from the embarrassing scene Arthur had caused.

"Leave him alone - he's really nice...a much better person than you are." Molly replied, attempting a defense.

"He's in love with you," Maeve said smirking.

"He is not!" Molly protested.

"Oh, please, he follows you around like a house-elf."

"That is not true..."

Maeve just raised her eyebrow at her.

"Okay, maybe he does – but he's not _in love _with me..."

Again, Maeve said nothing.

"Well, at least I don't have some ungroomed dog chasing after me..." Molly shot, trying desperately to change the subject.

"If you're referring to Shane...he is _not_ an ungroomed dog!"

"His hair is past his shoulders, it's appalling."

"I happen to find it very attractive."

Molly just pursed her lips; she did not agree with her friend's taste in boys. She looked at the clock – it was five till eleven.

"I should get to the prefect's car..."

"Alright then, I'll see you later – Hopefully I'll be in a compartment with Shane," she grinned mischievously as she spoke.

Molly quickly left for her car, Arthur was already sitting inside, quiet; he was fiddling with something that had a circle on the front with little numbers inside holes running along the edge. His face lit up when he saw her.

"There you are, Molly – I've been waiting for you – I wanted to show you something. It's called a fellytone, Muggles use it to communicate with each other."

She merely smiled at him, not knowing what to say. She remembered all the time Arthur always spent following her around, showing her Muggle 'artifacts', asking her how she was.

Then she realized...maybe Maeve was right. Perhaps Arthur Weasley was interested in her as more than a friend.

She then immediately pushed it out of her mind.

_It's not possible_, she thought to herself. Muggle-loving Weasley in love with Molly? The idea was more funny than realistic.

_Maeve was just trying to pull one on me_, she told herself.

Arthur, in the meantime, had completely forgotten about his 'fellytone'. He couldn't bring himself to look away from Molly – who hadn't even noticed she was still being watched. She also didn't notice the look of disappointment on his face when she left the compartment, after they had been given their instructions, to find Maeve. She never noticed – and Arthur was beginning to believe she never would.


	2. Chapter 2: Chatterings about Children

Chapter 2 – Chattings about Children

Molly found Maeve in a compartment with Shane, as well with a sixth year boy with thick straw-colored hair who she recognized as one of Arthur Weasley's friends, but did not know by name. She smiled politely at him and sat down. It had started to rain heavily, and water was lashing against the windows.

"The weather's absolutely dreadful, isn't it?" said Maeve.

"Yes, horrible," said Molly inattentively; she was busy eyeing Shane with disgust.

"So how's that darling little house elf of yours doing?" Maeve asked.

Molly threw her a glare, nodding her head in the direction of the other boy in the compartment.

"You have a house-elf, Molly? I've always wanted one – it'd be great to just sit around while a little servant happily does all your chores."

"I believe that's called laziness..." Molly replied dryly. "And, no – I don't have a house-elf. Maeve here thinks she's being funny."

Then there was a knock on the compartment door, and Arthur popped his head in. Behind him, Molly could see a tall dark-haired boy with two small beady-eyes. Maeve tried to stifle her laugh; she did very poorly.

"Oh, hello Molly! I was –ah – looking for Sturgis..." he looked at the blonde boy in the corner. "There you are."

Molly heard Maeve muttering under her breath –"Sturgis – yeah, _that's_ who he was looking for."

"Come on in Arthur, Alastor. There's plenty of room," said Shane. Maeve's mouth dropped open in shock– as though Shane had done something utterly appalling.

"You're friends with Arthur?" Molly asked Shane, surprised.

"Yeah of course, in Gryffindor together aren't we? We're good friends – known him since before we came to Hogwarts. Isn't that right Weasley?"

Arthur winked at him. After this, Molly became much warmer towards Shane.

"So, the weather's mad, isn't it?" Arthur said, looking at Molly.

"It hasn't rained this bad all summer," said the beady-eyed boy in a growl-like voice.

"You know Molly, Muggles use things called 'umbello's' to stop from getting wet in the rain. They're like fabric shields on metal sticks they hold over their heads. The rain runs off the sides."

Molly smiled politely, wondering why on earth he was telling her this. Seeing the patronizing way Maeve was looking at Arthur though, she decided to continue the subject of 'umbello's as though she found it fascinating.

"That sounds quite silly, it probably looks ridiculous– if only they knew about water-repelling charms," she said laughing.

"Well, you have to hand it to them – managing to live without magic all these years..."

Alastor, the beady-eyed boy just grunted, in what Molly assumed to be agreement. Sturgis just looked at Arthur, shaking his head in disbelief. He threw a meaningful glance at Shane, who seemed to catch on to whatever hint Sturgis was giving him.

"So, Molly," he asked casually. "Seeing anyone?"

"Oh...no," she said blushing slightly – nothing compared to Arthur's cheeks, which had turned bright red.

"Interested in anyone?" Shane asked.

"No, not really," she said uncomfortably.

"How about you, Arthur – are you _interested_ in anyone?" Maeve asked.

Molly sighed; though she was her best friend, Maeve could be cruel sometimes.

"I might have someone in mind," he mumbled, trying his best not to look at Molly, but unable to prevent himself to glance at her from the corner of his eye.

"_So..._how was everyone's summer?" she asked brightly, hoping to steer everyone from the subject.

"I had a nasty Niffler attack," Alastor grunted.

Needless to say, the conversation headed in quite the opposite direction for the rest of journey.

When they got off the train to head for the carriages, while Maeve shrieked trying to dodge the bullets of rain, Arthur offered to perform a 'water-repelling charm' on Molly.

"No, its fine – I won't bother, it's just a bit of rain."

"Oh, all right then."

"Thanks, anway."

By the time they arrived in the Great Hall, most of the student's were near-drenched. The caretaker, Apollyon Pringle, was muttering furiously under his breath as he attempted to clean the mud stains from the floor. The students eventually settled down in their seats, anxiously awaiting the sorting so they could begin the feast.

Then, Professor Dumbledore, the Transfiguration teacher and deputy headmaster, came in to the Great Hall, followed by a line of tiny, soaked first years. He placed the sorting hat on a stool in the center of the front of the hall. Some of the younger student's craned their necks to watch the hat; the older students – who had grown accustomed to the singing hat and were no longer interested by it – turned to one another to chat quietly.

"Aren't they adorable?" said Molly, looking at the first years.

"They're probably a group of right little snots," said Maeve.

"I don't know, Maeve," said Arthur. "I love kids, think they're great."

Maeve threw a mischevious glance at Molly.

"Really?" she said, feigning interest. "I suppose you'll be wanting to get married and have a whole load of kids, then..."

"Oh, yes – definitely. I want seven."

"_Seven?_" asked Maeve, astounded.

"Seven children?" asked Sturgis, trying to make sure he had heard Arthur right.

"How do you plan to afford a family that large, mate?" asked Shane.

"Money isn't everything," said Arthur shyly. "There are definitely things that are more important."

Molly was impressed – this wasn't something you heard everyday, especially from a fifteen-year-old boy.

"You're truly one-in-a-million, Arthur," she said, smiling softly causing Arthur to blush; Maeve just looked at her best friend, amazed.

They sat through a rather boring sorting, ( 'Black, Narcissa – SLYTHERIN!' – all the way through 'Vance, Emmeline – GRYFFINDOR!'), enjoyed an excellent feast, and then, Arthur and Molly called the first years around them to show them to the common room, giving them the password ('cherry blossom).

"Well, I'm exhausted," said Molly. "I think I'll go to bed – night, Arthur!"

"Good night, Molly," he said before going up to his own dorm and collapsing on his bed, Molly's words echoing happily in his head:

"_You're truly one-in-a-million, Arthur..."_


	3. Chapter 3: Competition

**A/N : AHA! enter meddling friend, attractive male diversion - the plot thickens...**

Chapter 3: Competition.

Over the first month of term Molly, Maeve, Shane, Arthur, Sturgis, and Alastor had become a regular group. This wasn't much to Maeve's liking, but as she was still keen on Shane, she put up with the others.

"Would you stop complaining, Maeve – honestly you can be such a snob sometimes..." Molly sighed as her best friend had begun ranting, yet again, about why they all had to hang out together. Maeve stifled a laugh.

"What?" snapped Molly.

"You're calling _me_ a snob?" she said. "You're the same – you look down on people if they're not clean-cut, goody little-two-shoes..."

"Not true!" Molly exclaimed in protest.

"What about Shane?" Maeve pointed out.

"I do like Shane..."

"Only after you realized he was friends with Arthur."

Molly said nothing.

"Anyway," Maeve moved on knowing full and well she had proved her point. "I don't really mind Sturgis at all. And Arthur's okay, really... even though he is a bit...odd. It's Alastor – he's just creepy."

"He is _not..._"

"Molly – yesterday he accused me of lacing his pumpkin juice with Veritaserum. Then he went off into some rant about how there are dark wizards about – everyone knows that there hasn't been a real threat from any dark wizard since Dumbledore got rid of Grindelwald...He's off his rocker, I tell you."

"Not talking about me are you?" said voice behind them. The two girls spun around, to find Arthur standing behind him, scanning the Daily Prophet.

"No, of course not!" exclaimed Molly.

"It's alright," Arthur said sheepishly. "I know people find me a little strange..."

"No really – we were actually talking about... well, Alastor..." Molly said uncomfortably.

"Ah...good old Moody," he said grinning. "Yeah – I'd agree with you there – but he's a good friend."

"So," said Maeve, eyeing the newspaper Arthur was reading. "Anything in there about dark wizards?" she asked, smirking.

"No... but there is some madwoman at the Ministry who's trying to push a law through to make Muggle Hunting legal...Araminta Meliflua, hmm... I think I might be related to her."

"_You think?"_ asked Maeve.

"It's a bit hard to keep track of everyone I'm related to... especially when most of the family thinks the Weasley line is nothing but a bunch of 'blood-traitors'...we're quite shunned," he said, his smile not losing any of it's usual brightness.

"You seem to take that quite lightly..." said Maeve.

"Well, if they want nothing to do with us because we don't think that Muggle-borns are scum and that pure-bloods are better than everyone else...I have to say, I don't really mind."

Molly was impressed; her opinion of Arthur was steadily growing.

Spotting the look in Molly's eye, Maeve cleared her throat loudly.

"Goodness...we should be getting to be Transfiguration, wouldn't want to be late..."

"What are you talking about, we have twenty minutes?" said Molly.

"You never know..."

This didn't explain much, but Maeve had already begun ushering the two upstairs to Dumbledore's classroom. When they entered, there wasn't a single student inside.

"Good morning," Dumbledore said brightly from behind his desk. "You're quite early. Excellent – I love enthusiastic students...I suppose you couldn't wait to start Vanishing things?"

His light blue eyes were twinkling, and behind his graying auburn beard, he seemed to be hiding a smile that told them he knew very well that they were not there early out of anticipation of the morning's lesson. The three of them said polite good mornings through forced smiles and sat down: Arthur across the room from Maeve and Molly, in his usual seat where Sturgis, Alastor, and Shane would be joining him soon.

"What is wrong with you," said Molly in a deadly whisper. "Why did you insist on getting here so early?"

"No reason – just didn't want to be late..." Maeve asked innocently.

"You're lying."

"Look – I saw the way you looked at Arthur a few minutes, ago – all dreamy-eyed."

"Oh, please – I was just impressed with his way of thinking... besides, why would it matter to you?"

"Because Molly – you've always let him hang around you out of pity...I don't want you to fall for him for the same reason...You'll just end up getting stuck in a relationship you don't want to be in, and you'll be too soft to end it."

"It's not out of pity – and I am NOT falling for him..." she snapped.

"And he is NOT in love with me" she added after a moment.

"Okay then..." Maeve replied, rolling her eyes.

A week later, Alastor, Shane, Arthur and Molly were sitting in the Great Hall talking about the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff Quidditch game that had taken place that afternoon.

"That was quite a catch," grunted Alastor.

"Yeah, brilliant Shane," agreed Arthur.

"The most satisfying bit was the look on Amos's face when I got the Snitch from right under his own broom," smirked Shane.

"Molly, can I talk to you for a moment..."

Molly turned her attention away from the boy's discussion to Maeve – who was standing off to the side with a tall, dark haired boy with light eyes. She got up from the table and walked over to meet them.

"You know Amos Diggory, Molly..." Maeve said, gesturing towards the boy, who was blushing a little.

"Yeah I do - good match today..." Molly said earnestly, trying not to grin.

"Thanks," he said.

"I'll just leave you two alone..." said Maeve, dashing off to sit with Shane.

After an awkward moment or two, Amos spoke quite shyly.

"Molly, I know you don't really know me. But...well...I've fancied you for quite a while, and I talked to Maeve about it the other day – and she said that, well that I should just ask you out. So, since there's a Hogsmeade visit next weekend, if you'd like to go with me..."

Molly considered it for a minute. Then she decided, why not?

"All right, sure..." she said, smiling.

They talked for another minute or two, then Molly went back to sit with her fellow Gryffindors.

"What was that about?" asked Shane when she returned to the table.

"Oh...nothing. Amos asked me to Hogmseade next week?"

"What'd you say?" asked Shane, throwing a nervous glance at Arthur who had suddenly busied himself with his Transifiguration Essay.

"I said I'd go with him," she said.

"Why?" grunted Alastor.

"Because he's nice, and he's attractive...why shouldn't I say yes?"

"Because, Amos Diggory's a moron..." said Shane.

"There's nothing wrong with Molly going out with Amos, she can go with whoever she likes" Arthur said suddenly, his face was a bit red. With that, Shane and Alastor both went quiet and Arthur got up, mumbling dejectedly something about needing to go to the library. There was an awkard silence at the table, and Molly couldn't help noticing that Maeve looked a little guilty, and that Arthur had seemed quite hurt.


	4. Chapter 4: The Denial Continues

Chapter 4: The Denial Continues

The sun was bright orange and was setting behind the mountains at the edge of Hogsmeade. Hogwarts students filled the streets of the village, enjoying their afternoon off.

"Yeah, so I enjoy Quidditch, but I won't continue with it after I leave school – I'm thinking of getting a job at the Ministry," Amos told Molly as they strolled along the shop fronts.

"I have a friend who wants to work at the Ministry," Molly said, desperate to get him off the subject of himself.

"Yeah? Who?" Amos replied.

"Arthur – Arthur Weasley."

"Oh...Arthur, yeah. Let me guess – wants to do something working with Muggles..."

Molly forced herself to laugh

"How did you guess?" she asked dryly

"Just a hunch..."

They stopped outside The Three Broomsticks.

"Do you want to go in and get a butterbeer?" Amos asked.

"Sure," Molly said.

He opened the door for her and they entered; it was more crowded with students inside the pub then it was outside altogether. Molly took a seat while Amos went to go get them drinks. She was automatically ambushed by Maeve.

"_So..._how's it going?" she asked enthusiastically, sitting down next to Molly. "Let me guess? He's smart, and funny, and handsome..."

Before she could go on listing all the glowing adjectives under the sun, Molly cut her off.

"Well, actually – he's quite boring," she said dully. "He's nice and all – but he's very self-centered, he only talks about himself – and he's not even that interesting –"

"_Nothing_ like Arthur..."

"Exactly," Molly replied before realizing what she'd said. Then added quickly "Not that I like Arthur..."

Maeve just raised her eyebrow. Then her best friend instincts took over.

"Do you want me, Shane and the other boys to rudely intrude on your evening and insist on sitting with the two you?" she asked lazily, brushing one over her long brown curls behind her ear.

"If you must," said Molly grinning.

By the time Amos got back to Molly, she had been joined by Maeve, Shane, Sturgis, and Alastor – Arthur had not come into Hogsmeade that day. Molly gave him a sheepish 'sorry' as he sat down, but inside was glad that she didn't have to spend another minute alone with him. Amos sat uncomfortably for a few minutes before pulling Molly to the side.

"You don't mind if we take off do you?" he asked. "It's just that I don't think you're friends like me much."

"I don't know what you mean, Amos," she said, feigning innocence.

Just as she said this, Shane charmed a small rolled up ball of parchment to zoom at Amos and yelled "Catch, Diggory!"

When it hit Amos's head he called out an apology.

"Sorry, should have known – you weren't able to get the Snitch, after all!"

Molly tried desperately not to laugh.

"Well, if you don't notice it, then your friends mustn't be very nice people..."

"Are you insulting my friends?" she asked, dramatically offended.

"I'm just stating the facts."

"Well, I'm sorry but I can't be involved with anyone who has a problem with my friends."

With that she turned on her heel and went to sit back down with the others, leaving Amos stunned.

"So then, Diggory storms out of the pub," Shane said laughing. "But don't worry Arthur, I charmed the parchment to follow him around all day – I think it was still floating behind him when I saw him in the Entrance Hall when we got back."

"Very amusing, Shane," Molly said, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know why you're acting so high and mighty, Prewett – you're the one who told him to shove off," he replied, grinning madly.

"I did _not_ tell him to shove off – I merely stated that I could not be involved with him if he wanted to insult the morons I'm friends with..." she said sardonically.

"So sweet you are, Prewett," Shane said.

"Well, I'm off to bed – must get my beauty sleep," Maeve announced.

"You don't need any, gorgeous," Shane said winking.

Maeve bent down and kissed Shane softly on the lips.

"Night, sweetheart," Shane said as Maeve left for bed.

"Well, well – when did this come about?" asked Sturgis.

"My, whatever do you mean, Podmore?" he said, tossing his long hair. Molly resisted the urge to grimace.

"You and Maeve..."

"Eh, it's been going on for a while. It's not really official..."

Sturgis and Alastor looked at Molly.

"Did you know about this, Molly?" growled Alastor.

"Of course," Molly said nonchalantly. When Maeve wasn't trying to sort out Molly's pathetic excuse for a love life, Shane was the only thing she ever talked about.

"So, enough about me – what about you, Prewett? Now that you've seen things our way and dropped Diggory, what's next for our rosy-cheeked perfect prefect?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"Why am I so interested in whom you're interested in? Might I ask why you are so interested in why I'm interested in whom you're interested in?"

Molly shook her head exasperatedly.

"You're certainly something, Shane Casey. What that is, I do not know..."

Shane then turned to Sturgis and Alastor.

"I was thinking about going to the kitchens to stock up on snacks – do you fellas want to assist me?" he said. Molly could swear she saw him send them a wink.

"Sure," growled Moody, smiling. The three of them got up and strolled out through the portrait hole as though they had just accomplished something truly genius. Molly and Arthur were left alone.

"So..." Arthur said. "Sorry things didn't work out with you and Amos."

"Don't be," she said. "Anyway...how come you didn't want to come in to Hogsmeade?"

"Ah...I had to finish my essay for Binns," he said.

"You told me you finished that last night," Molly said.

"Did I?" Arthur asked nervously.

"Yes – I distinctly remember you comparing the goblin rebellions to something you read in a Muggle history book..." she replied.

"You remembered that?" he looked a little pleased with himself.

"Yes..."

"Well – I...ah...wanted to edit it a bit." he said.

"Why today? It's Friday – we don't have History until Tuesday. It's not like we get to go to Hogsmeade every week..." Molly said.

"I just didn't feel like going, is all," he said, smiling weakly at her.

Molly was thinking of what to say next, but before she got a chance to speak, Arthur said good night and rushed upstairs. Seconds later, Shane, Sturgis, and Alastor entered the common room with stupid grins, their robes bulging – with what, Molly did not want to know. Their smiles faded when they spotted Molly sitting alone.

"Where's Arthur?" Shane asked.

"He went upstairs," Molly responded quietly.

"_What in the name of Merlin...we give him the _perfect _oppurtunity..._" she heard Shane mutter as he went upstairs after Arthur.

Molly said good night to Alastor and Sturgis and went to bed herself. She laid down in her bed – which was next to Maeve's and stared quietly at the ceiling, wondering why Arthur didn't want to tell her his real reason for not wanting to go to Hogsmeade.

"Talked to Amos at dinner..." Maeve whispered suddenly. Molly jumped. Maeve was kneeling next to her bed, her head rested on Molly's second pillow.

"For goodness sake, Maeve! Don't do that!" she scolded.

"Oh, calm down!" Maeve replied, climbing onto the bed. "Anyway...Amos said that you mentioned Arthur at least five times while the two of you were out."

"He came up quite a bit..."

"Uh-huh..." Maeve said disbelievingly.

"What?"

"You like him don't you?"

"Arthur?"

"No. Professor Dumbledore," Maeve said, rolling her eyes. "Y_es, Arthur!"_

"Of course not," said Molly.

"You know – it's alright if you like him, Molly..."

"I thought it wasn't allowed?" asked Molly scathingly.

"If you were feeling sorry for him, _yes_. But if you are genuinely developing feelings for him, then I'm happy for you. He's really sweet, he'd treat you well – and he's clearly in love with you..."

"He is not in love with me, I do not have feelings for him – that is that. Good night!"

"Whatever," Maeve said, as she climbed back into her own bed. "You'll see in time."

Molly hated it when Maeve acted as though she knew she was right.

_But she usually is_, she thought, biting her lip.

**A/N: the tides are changing soon,I promise. Now go review ::glares menacingly::**


	5. Chapter 5: Library Research

Chapter 5: Library Research

"Incidentally, centaurs refused to attend this meeting because of the exclusion of the merpeople…"

_"…Nearly-Headless Nick distracted Pringle while Shane and I tried to get back up the staircase…"_

"…it wasn't until 1811 that a definition pleasing the majority of the magical community…"

_"…we had just turned the corner for the common room, when that dratted cat Mr. Buttons came prancing around the corner…"_

"…trolls were interviewed in the absence of the goblins…"

_"…anyway, Buttons ran off to get Pringle and we snuck through the portrait hole just in time…"_

The bell rang. Molly sighed as she dropped her parchment, quill, and ink bottle into her book bag. It was always a difficult task listening to Professor Binn's plow his way through wizarding history, but Maeve whispering in her ear all class about her late night escapades had made it all the more impossible. They went walked outside the classroom and were immediately joined by Shane, Arthur, and Alastor.

"So ladies – get your notes down alright?" Shane asked, as the other two boys lagged behind, going over their own notes from Binns's lecture.

"If you mean am I going to let you copy – then no…" Molly said warningly.

"Too bad – ah well, we were just headed to the library to start that Dark Art's essay on Aurors – coming?"

"You're starting you're essay already? But it's not due for four days…" Molly asked, shocked at Shane's newfound academic drive.

"Arthur's pushed us into it. Honestly, I think he's taking this prefect business a bit too seriously – he used to be good for a nice bit of troublemaking…" Shane replied sadly.

"Well, good for him…" Molly said.

Molly and Maeve decided to follow the boys to the library. The five of them put their things down at a table and split up to find books. Molly strolled through the Stealth and Secrecy section for a few minutes, trying to find something that she could fit into her essay. She picked out a book called _Auror Training in Stealth_, and was flipping through it when suddenly, she heard Shane's voice coming from the other side of the bookshelf; she stopped to listen.

"I keep giving you opportunities and you keep running away."

"I haven't asked you to give me any opportunities!"

"You need to tell her how you feel, Arthur!"

"She doesn't see me that way…"

"You don't know that!"

"If I tell her, she might feel bad for me – I don't want that…"

"Arthur, for goodness sake. Give her a chance to look at you the way you look at her."

Silence followed Shane's statement, but after a moment, Molly heard Arthur sigh.

"I can't Shane."

"What if Molly does feel the same way?"

Molly dropped the book she was holding in the surprise of hearing her name. Shane and Arthur stopped talking and looked towards the bookshelf she had been hiding behind. Molly quickly returned to the table with all their things and sat down, trying to look as though she'd been there the entire time.

_It's true_, she thought. _Maeve was right._

Then, Shane and Arthur came walking from the Stealth and Secrecy section, both holding books under their arms.

"Been sitting here the entire time, Prewett?" Shane asked, sounding casual.

"Yes – couldn't find anything…"

"Well, Arthur found this, maybe you can look through it while we take a glance at these…"

He handed her _Auror Training in Stealth_ and the two of them sat down. Molly gulped nervously, trying to look as though this wasn't the book she had dropped, and that she hadn't heard the two of them talking.

The three of them sat quietly for a minute before Shane closed his book and stood up.

"No good, I'll have to get something else," he said. "Leave you two alone then, shall I?" he added pointedly to Arthur. He walked off quickly. Molly and Arthur turned to face each other.

"Molly, I…" he began.

"Arthur – " she said at the same time.

They laughed.

"Find anything good?" Arthur said after a second.

"Oh…yeah. Not surprised though – _Auror Training in Stealth…_ can't get much more specific to the essay topic than that."

Arthur just nodded. Molly didn't know what else to say. She had just been hit with the realization that Arthur Weasley felt exactly the way Maeve said he had. She hadn't even had a chance to figure out what she felt for him. She watched as Arthur turned silently back to his book – stopping every now and again to take notes. She felt an odd feeling swelling up in her chest, an unexplainable one. She was starting to think that maybe Maeve had been right about more than just Arthur's feelings – perhaps Molly was beginning to fall for him too. It was about an hour later, when Molly was starting to wonder where the other three had gotten to, that she realized that there bags had miraculously disappeared from the table.

"Arthur? What's happened to the others?"

He looked up and took a quick glance around the table.

"That's strange…did you notice them leave?" he asked.

"No. But I suppose we should go anyway – it's time for dinner." she said looking at her watch. She was thinking furiously of Maeve and Shane, who had probably come up with the bright idea of stranding the two of them alone in the library. Arthur offered to check out the books while Molly put her things away – then the two of them left for the Great Hall.

"I wonder why they left…" Molly said casually. She saw Arthur turn pink out of the corner of her eye.

"No idea," he said.

"We seem to end up alone a lot, have you noticed?" she continued.

"Really?" Arthur said uncomfortably.

"Arthur," Molly said as she stopped right in front of the entrance to the Great Hall. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

She had tried to sound as hopeful as possible, as a way to bully Arthur into actually coming forward. Arthur hesitated for a moment, clearly trying to measure up her question and decide if he should answer honestly. After a moment he looked down at the floor.

"No, Molly. I can't think of anything I need to tell you," he said. He went inside for dinner, leaving Molly standing outside disappointed, but slightly determined. If he had really loved her all these years, then she was going to see to it that he did something about it.


	6. Chapter 6: Are You a Gryffindor?

_A/N: Hello my faithful readers - sorry it's been a month. I've been stressing over my other story! But here it is, chapter six, in all it's glory hah!_

_Enjoy, review - repeat!_

Chapter 6: Are You a Gryffindor?

"If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell Shane?" Molly asked Maeve as the two of them got to their dormitory that night. She felt as though she were going to burst if she didn't tell someone about what she had heard in the library.

"Gossip?" Maeve asked eagerly.

"No, not really…" Molly said.

"Oh… too bad – well what is it?" Maeve asked.

"Promise."

"Wow – must be big…" Maeve said, eager again.

Molly looked at her pleadingly.

"Okay, I promise… now spill!"

"I overheard Shane and Arthur in the library today…" Molly said hesitantly.

"And…"

"…and you were right. Arthur does… have feelings for me."

"Oh, well I know that!" Maeve said, sounding disappointed, but she quickly brightened up again. "But now _you_ know…so now that it's out in the open…"

"'Now that it's out in the open', what?"

"I don't know. It's just better."

Molly bit her lip.

"I don't think so. I tried to get him to tell me, when we were going to dinner… and he didn't." Molly said.

"So you want him to tell you?" Maeve said, grinning. "Does that mean –"

"No! Well… maybe. I don't know…"

Maeve watched her friend for a moment, then let out a long sigh as she climbed into bed.

"Don't worry Molly – if we want Arthur to declare his love for you –"

"Maeve!"

"- we'll just have to try harder next time. Good night!"

---

The next evening, Arthur and Molly had been called for patrol duty. Molly would have two hours alone with him, and she wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing. He spent the entire times rambling on about something he learned about in Muggle Studies called 'ekeltricity', and completely avoided looking at Molly's face.

"…they use it power loads of different things, but they haven't quite perfected its use yet. It's predicted that within the next few decades it will be the center of almost all Muggle devices, and it will be available more readily and for less cost…"

"So they have to _pay_ for ekeltricity?" Molly asked.

"Yeah. It's quite –"

"Mad?" Molly finished for him.

Arthur looked up at her surprised. She smiled sweetly at him, and he blushed furiously and looked back at his feet. Molly sighed. Then she saw two young students walking down the hall – a blonde haired girl, accompanied by a boy with even blonder hair.

"Excuse me," Molly said. "Only fifth years and above are allowed to be in the corridor's until nine."

"What are you going to do, give us detention?" the boy sneered in a slow drawling voice. The girl gave a high-pitched shriek of laughter.

"Yes, I think we will…" Molly said, looking down at the two of them. "Arthur, two nights should do it don't you think – for breaking the rules and for their cheek…"

"Sounds about right, Molly…and it appears the two of you are in Slytherin, so I suppose we'll be reporting this to Professor Phinellus?"

"Arthur?" the boy said, smirking. "Wouldn't be Arthur Weasley, would it? Of course, I shouldn't have to ask…" he added, looking Arthur up and down, his lip curled.

Arthur, to Molly's surprise, didn't look even slightly abashed.

"And you would be?" he asked politely.

"Lucius Malfoy," the boy replied.

"What year are you in, Lucius?" Molly asked.

"What's it to you?" the boy replied rudely.

"I'm a school prefect, and you are a student who has broken the rules. I asked you a simple question, and I would appreciate it if you answered." Molly said, shooting him a threatening look.

"Second year…" the boy said lazily, still sneering at the two of them. The girl he was with laughed again.

"The two of you should learn to obey the rules…" Arthur said sternly.

"And learn some manners while you're at it…" Molly added coldly.

"What are the two of you doing out still?" a voice called from the end of the hall. Molly saw the girl roll her eyes as she sighed.

"Oh, hi Andromeda…" Molly said brightly.

"Have my sister and her little boyfriend been bothering you, Molly? Arthur?" Andromeda said as she approached the four of them; she was tall with long black hair, and stunning gray eyes. She had a small badge with the letters "HG" engraved on it, pinned onto her gold and scarlet tie.

Lucius and the girl leaped about a foot apart from one another.

"He's not my boyfriend!" the girl shrieked, pouting at Andromeda.

"Whatever – both of you go back to your common room, now!" Andromeda said.

"And why should we listen to you?" the girl scowled.

"Hmm… maybe because I'm your older sister and Head Girl at this school, Narcissa…"

"Fine!" Narcissa said, and she and Lucius left.

"Sorry about that – my sister can be a right little snot," Andromeda laughed as the two young Slytherins turned the corner. "Hope they didn't give the two of much trouble…"

"No, it was alright…" Molly said. "They were a bit rude, though…"

Arthur was quiet, not looking quite directly at Andromeda.

"They don't think they have to listen to anyone…" Andromeda said, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder. Arthur watched it fall, looking somewhat mesmerized, his ears pink. Molly scowled. "Well, I was just coming to relieve you of your duties, so you can go back to Gryffindor tower."

"Alright, thanks Andromeda," Molly said quickly, dragging Arthur away.

"So, what was I saying before we were interrupted?" Arthur said absent-mindedly.

"Something about ekeltricity…" Molly said.

"Oh, yeah…"

"Do you like Andromeda?" Molly asked quickly.

"Oh, of course – she's really nice…"

"No, I mean do you _like_ her?"

"What, no!" Arthur replied.

"I mean it would be understandable if you did. She's beautiful, and funny – head girl…"

"No, Molly – I don't like her," Arthur said firmly. "Actually… I kind of.. .well, there's already another girl I've set my sights on…"

He looked up at her tentatively.

"Oh – really… who?" Molly asked casually.

"Well, I'd prefer not to say – but Andromeda's nothing compared to this girl," Arthur said, blushing now. "She's so pretty. I love her eyes, especially. And she's so smart, and witty. And she really cares about her friends. She's ethical, likes to follow the rules, of course. She's really sweet, and she's compassionate. She doesn't like for people to treat others badly – unless it's for a reason she considers worthy," Arthur added, laughing.

Molly blushed and smiled.

"She sounds really wonderful," she said quietly. "So… how come you haven't told her how you feel?"

"I think about it all the time," Arthur replied shyly. "But… I don't think she feels the same…"

"You never know," Molly said.

"That's what Shane told me," Arthur replied. "But, personally I can't see why she'd ever like me… I'm clumsy, and people think I'm odd…"

"And you're smart, and loving, and passionate, and you have good morals, and you're not influenced by what others think of you, you don't follow the crowd… I could see a lot of reasons why someone would want to be with you, Arthur."

"Thanks," Arthur said, blushing furiously. "But I don't know – I'm still scared…"

"Well, are you a Gryffindor or not?" Molly said.

Arthur looked at her hesitantly.

"I'll think about it," he said after a few moments.

"Okay," Molly said.

They reached the common room and Arthur said good night and went upstairs. Molly took a seat in an armchair and let out a deep sigh.

_Yes_, she thought, _I can definitely see a lot of reasons why a girl would want to be with Arthur Weasley._


	7. Chapter 7: Late Night Escapades

Chapter 7: Late Night Escapades.

"_Molly, come on, through the platform or we'll miss the train…"_

"_I'm coming, Gideon."_

"_Where's Fabian?"_

"_He's in already gone through the platform, Mum."_

"_Alright then… have a good year, both of you. Gideon, look after your sister, won't you?"_

"_Of course, Mum. See you and Dad at Christmas!"_

_Molly and Gideon melted through the platform, and quickly boarded the Hogwarts Express._

_"I've got to go the Prefect's coach, Molly – you find a compartment to sit in…"_

_Molly nodded and headed down the train, looking for a somewhat empty compartment. She came across one with only one student in it, a young red-headed boy._

_"Mind if I join you?" Molly asked._

_The boy looked up, he looked stunned for a moment, but then beamed at her._

_"Yes, of course!" he said._

_Molly took a seat across from him._

_"I'm Molly Prewett," she said, sticking her hand out for him to shake. "This is my first year at Hogwarts."_

_"Arthur Weasley," the boy said sheepishly. "My first year, too…"_

_"You have siblings here?" Molly asked._

_"Two brothers. Gryffindor."_

_"Me, too. One of my brothers, Gideon, is the Head Boy…" she said proudly._

_"That's great."_

_There was a small silence. Arthur looked up at Molly a few times and back down at his feet. He then opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a new addition to the compartment._

_"Molly!"_

_"Maeve"_

_A young girl with long, loosely-curled, brown hair greeted Molly with a hug._

_"What are you doing in here all alone?" Maeve asked. "Come on to my compartment?"_

_"Oh, alright…"_

_Molly turned to Arthur and smiled._

_"It was nice meeting you Arthur…"_

_"You too, Molly."_

_And then she left._

---

Molly hadn't ever thought much about that first meeting with Arthur, but she'd never really had much reason to think about Arthur at all. Until now.

Though the two had never been true friends until fifth year, Molly had always made allowances for Arthur. Despite the fact that most people at Hogwarts didn't pay too much attention to him, Molly was always nice to him, and tried her best to listen when he talked about Muggles. Not only that, but she always gave more credit to people that were nice to Arthur, or were associated with him. She had never thought much of why Arthur was so special, she had just assumed it was because she had met him that day on the train, the first friend she had made on her first day at Hogwarts; now, however, she was thinking that the special place she'd always had for Arthur had always been in her heart.

"A sickle for your thoughts?"

Molly snapped out of her thoughts to find Maeve sitting next to her with a huge smile on her face.

"I think they're worth more than that, at the moment," Molly sighed.

"I reckoned as much – you were very deep in thought there. What was going on in there? Trying to remember something about the Goblin Rebellions?"

"No."

"Or maybe you were thinking about Arthur…"

"Be quiet!" Molly hissed, throwing a nervous glance around the common room.

"So, how was patrolling last night?" Maeve continued casually.

"It was…interesting…"

"Has he told you how he feels, yet?" Maeve asked, as though they were discussing the weather.

"Kind of."

"What do you mean, 'kind of'? Has he told you or not?"

"Well, he told me how he feels about me. He just didn't mention that it was _me_ he was talking about…"

Maeve let out an exasperated sigh.

"And I told him he should tell me how he feels – except he didn't know I was talking about me either…"

Maeve slid out of her chair, onto the ground, and slapped her hand against her forehead.

"But he said he'd think about telling me. Well he said he'd think about telling _her_ – but he was talking about me. He just doesn't know that I know that…"

"Well, I'm glad you achieved so much progress," Maeve said sardonically.

"Well – I think I've made a lot of progress, actually…" Molly told her tentatively.

"What does that mean?" Maeve asked, eyes brightly eager.

"I know now. I want him to tell me. Maeve, I want him to tell me so much…" Molly said.

"So that means you feel the same?"

Molly hesitated for a second, but then nodded.

Maeve stood up and clapped her hands together.

"You're right, that is excellent progress!" she exclaimed. "Now all that's left is to get the two of you together… be right back."

"Where are you going?" Molly called after her as she left, heading for the exit of the common room.

"You'll find out soon enough!"

"You better not tell Shane anything!"

But Maeve was already gone.

---

"Hello, Molly…"

"Arthur…"

"I was wondering – would you like to go for a walk. It's really nice out this evening, and I fancied a stroll. It would be nice to have some company – of course, if you don't want to, it's fine – I just thought I'd ask-"

"I'd love to…"

"Oh, alright then…shall we?" Arthur said a little nervously, gesturing with his arms towards the portrait hole.

It was a few hours after Maeve had set off on her mysterious business. She had come back and not said a word to Molly about where she had been or what she had done, only that she thought it was the perfect day to be 'encouraging to others.'

Now Molly understood.

She and Arthur walked through the castle and from the Entrance Hall onto the grounds rather quietly. When they had gotten outside, Molly finally broke the silence.

"It really is nice out this evening," she said.

"Yeah – actually, the sun should be setting in about a half an hour, and there's this great place on the lake that just has the loveliest view…"

"Lead the way…" Molly said.

Arthur brought Molly over to a nice spot under a tree next to the lake. She went to sit down, but he stopped her – taking off his cloak and laying it on the grass for her to sit on.

"Wouldn't want to get your clothes all dirty," he said timidly.

"Thanks," Molly said as she sat down.

They sat quietly for a minute or two, watching the light of the setting sun glittering on the ripples in the lake.

"We've known each other for a long time, Arthur…" Molly said.

"Yeah, you're right. But we've never really been more than acquaintances…"

"I'm really glad that I'm getting to know you better this year," she said.

"Me, too…"

"So, now that we're friends… are you going to tell me who you're mystery girl is?" Molly said slyly, though she felt a bit nervous. Arthur blushed.

"I don't know if I'm ready for that, quite yet…"

"Is she someone I know?" Molly asked.

"Yeah – you know her," Arthur said. "But I'm not telling you any more than that."

"Fine, have it your way, Arthur Weasley. I don't much care, anyway," she said playfully.

"For someone who doesn't care, you sure ask a lot of questions…" he replied.

"Well, perhaps I'm jealous," she said.

"Believe me, there's no reason to be jealous…"

"Why not?"

"Trust me."

There conversation was silent again, and then the sun began to set, casting prisms of light across the lake. The two of them watched it in quiet awe, before the red sun finally melted away beneath the cool black of the lake, leaving the sky dark and revealing the hundreds of sparkling stars above them.

"It's magnificent," Molly sighed.

"Simply beautiful," Arthur said, gazing at her – but turning away just as she looked at him. "So, I suppose you want to go back to the castle now."

"No, I'd actually rather stay out. We were supposed to be going for a walk, anyway…"

"Oh, alright!" Arthur said, pleasantly surprised. "Excellent, off we go then…"

They stood up and headed around the edge of the lake, talking and laughing. After a few lengths of the lake shore, they sat down again under the tree for a while before getting up again and taking a long walk around the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. Then they traveled down onto the Quidditch pitch, where Arthur stole Molly's cloak from her and ran towards the far goal, providing commentary for his makeshift game of Quidditch.

"Chaser Arthur Weasley has the Quaffle – enemy Chaser, Molly Prewett, is steadily gaining on him, she seems to be using the Banshee Technique, an infamous Quidditch strategy in which a defending player emits high pitched shrieks to distract their opponent," Arthur shouted over at Molly, as he ran with her cloak balled up in his arms. "It is most often employed by…female players… but there was an incident…in a World Cup Final in which… an English Beater Sheldon McShrieky… used his unnaturally high… voice to use the technique, securing a strategic… victory over Portugal. And WEASLEY SCORES!"

Arthur reached the goal post, just as Molly caught him and brought him crashing to the ground.

"Give it back, Weasley!" she said.

"You only had to ask," he laughed, handing her back her cloak.

"And I do not have a high pitched voice!" she said.

Arthur just gave her a patronizing look and the two burst into fits of laughter. After recovering, Molly looked at her watch for the time.

"Goodness! It's almost four o'clock in the morning!" she exclaimed.

"Have we really been out that long?" Arthur asked.

"Must have. Oh, Arthur, we better get back to our dormitory – and hope Pringle doesn't catch us!"

They both quickly ran back to the castle and crept inside as quietly as possible. Mr. Buttons, the caretaker's cat swept past their feet, and they hurried even more quickly up the marble staircase. They were just rounding the Fat Lady's corridor when the heard Pringle. He was waiting outside the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"Don't worry, Mr. Buttons – we'll get 'em. Don't you worry."

"Oh no!" whispered Molly. "What are we going to do?"

Arthur thought quickly.

"You stay here, Molly – hide. I'll distract Pringle.."

"Arthur, don't!"

"Don't worry about me, Molly – I'm used to getting in trouble," he said, smiling fondly at her. Then he walked casually from where they stood crouched out of sight, towards the Fat Lady's portrait.

"There you are! Knew there were students about! What exactly do you think you're doing out of bed at this hour, young man?" Pringle asked.

"I don't know exactly," Arthur replied, trying to sound surprised. "I just woke up, and here I am."

"The cheek! You, come with me to my office now!"

"If you insist…" Arthur sighed sadly. He and Pringle turned the corner, Arthur winking at Molly just as they left.

Molly crept out of her hiding spot and walked softly over to the Fat Lady, who was snoring softly.

"Excuse me…" Molly said. "Excuse me; I need to get into my dormitory…"

The Fat Lady jerked out of her sleep.

"Wha – what time is it?"

"It's four in the morning…" Molly said quietly.

"Goodness! Ms. Prewett, is that you? What on earth are you doing out of your dormitory at this hour? I expected better of you!"

"I know, I'm sorry. Time just passed very quickly…"

"Indeed! And a prefect, nonetheless! You should know better! What kind of example are you setting for your peers!"

"They needn't know. Now can I please go inside?"

"Fine, just give me the password, and I suppose I'll have to let you through…"

"Nitwits."

The portrait swung open, and Molly quickly scurried inside. Before the portrait closed, however, she heard the Fat Lady speak to her once more.

"I do hope you and Mr. Weasley had a nice time, Ms. Prewett – and that Pringle will let him off easily…"

Molly smiled quite girlishly and practically skipped upstairs to her dormitory.


	8. Chapter 8: The Shane

A/N: Okay, back again with another chapter - I had a lot of fun with this one, I hope you enjoy it ;)

Chapter 8: The Shane

"I don't know who he thinks he is, I mean – Molly? Molly, are you even listening to me? _MOLLY!"_

"Oh, I'm sorry Maeve, what were you saying?"

"What happened last night? Are you going to tell me, or are you just going to continue staring dreamily at your porridge?"

"I already told you – nothing happened! We just talked…"

"Yeah, _talked_…" said Maeve, rolling her eyes. "Last time Shane and I talked, we were in a broom closet…"

"MAEVE!"

"Okay – so you really just talked? Any chance that someone may have told someone else how they felt?"

"No," Molly sighed. "We just talked."

"So, what – you just really like that bowl of porridge?"

"I just had a good time, that's all…"

"Hello ladies…" Shane's voice came from behind them, causing them to start. "You two beauties weren't talking about me, were you?"

"Well, not that it's any of your business Casey, but I was trying to complain about you to Molly, but she's not in a very 'listening' mood…" she said, raising her eyebrow at Molly, who was now stirring her porridge absently and watching the ceiling.

"Why so cold darling?" Shane said, grinning. "Have I upset you?"

"I don't know – why don't you tell me what you were doing talking up Andromeda this morning?"

"Oh, that wasn't for my own enjoyment…" Shane said, sitting down and putting his arm around Maeve. "I was chatting with her about Arthur…"

"Why were the two of you talking about Arthur?" asked Molly, snapping quickly out of her reverie.

"Well, she was asking about him… I have no idea why." Shane said, furrowing his brow. "I mean, he's two years behind her – but she seemed interested. A well, to each her own…" he shrugged his shoulders and shoved a piece of toast into his mouth, swallowing it instantaneously. "And speak of the devil, here comes good old Arthur right now…."

Molly turned to see Arthur coming into the Great Hall; she quickly returned to her breakfast, acting as though she hadn't seen him.

"Morning, Molly…" Arthur said happily.

"Oh, didn't see you there Arthur…" Molly said. "Good morning."

Arthur sat down, and winced slightly.

"What's wrong?" asked Molly.

"Oh, nothing…"

"Arthur was out late last night," Shane said. "Pringle caught him, and 'reinforced' his obedience for the rules…"

"What did he do to you, Arthur?" Molly asked, horrified.

"Nothing that wasn't worth it," Arthur said, Molly blushed.

"Well, it's not too bad, is it?" she asked.

"Ah… I don't know. Though I wouldn't be surprised if I still had these marks thirty years from now…"

Shane grimaced.

"Tough luck, mate. You might want to learn to be stealthier in the future…"

"So Arthur, I heard Andromeda was asking about you…" Maeve said. Molly shot her a deadly glare.

"She was?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah," Shane told him. Wanted to know all about you – course, I made you sound good. Didn't have a lot of material to work with, but I think I performed excellently."

"Well, thanks," Arthur said.

"I thought you said you didn't like her?" Molly snapped.

"And I don't…" Arthur replied.

"So why are you thanking Shane for trying to make you sound good?"

"Well, I don't want him to make me sound bad, do I?" Arthur said, as though he couldn't understand what Molly's problem was. "I mean, he wouldn't be a very good friend…"

"Aren't you aren't at all curious why Andromeda was asking about you?" Molly asked, looking as though she were about to pounce on him like some kind of angry jungle cat.

"Well, she's Head Girl, isn't she?" Arthur said. "She probably researches younger prefects for Professor Dippet, you know – get a good idea who'd be the best Heads for the following years."

Molly stared at him incredulously for a moment, then threw down her fork and stomped out of the Great Hall. Arthur followed her.

"Molly, wait – what's wrong with you?" he asked.

"What's wrong with _me?_ What is wrong with you?" she said. "Honestly, how thick can you get, Arthur?"

"What are you on about?" Arthur asked her.

"Do you honestly have no clue why Andromeda would be asking Shane about you?"

"I believe I already answered that," he said calmly, as though this would put a damper on Molly's temper, rather than only infuriating her more.

"It's because she likes you, Arthur! Honestly…"

"That's a little far-fetched don't you think?" he said.

Molly tried to respond, but found no words and just stood there with her mouth hanging open.

"Why do you care so much anyway?" Arthur asked, shrewdly suspicious.

Molly stepped backward, and crossed her arms, looking shyly at the floor.

"It's almost as though you're jealous…" he continued.

"Maybe I am…" she said quietly.

"Well why would you be jealous of Andromeda, but not the other girl I told you…" he trailed off. "Unless you know…"

He looked to Molly for an answer.

"Molly, do you know how I feel about you?" he asked.

She nodded slowly.

Arthur swallowed hard, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"I have to go," he muttered sheepishly, and left.

"Arthur, wait…" Molly called after him, but he didn't respond. She walked back into the Great Hall, feeling frustrated.

"So, what happened with our love birds?" Shane asked.

"What is wrong with you, Casey?" Molly snapped.

"Yes, what is wrong with you?" Maeve added.

"Wait, why are we ganging up on The Shane?" he asked, alarmed.

"The Shane? You're calling yourself _The Shane?"_ Maeve asked mockingly.

"You don't think it will catch on?" he asked.

"No, I don't…"

"Will the two of you focus?" Molly said.

"Sorry, Prewett. Now what have I done to upset you so?"

"You. You…you," she muttered.

"Oh, you're just upset with me because I'm me," he said.

"Sounds like a good reason to me…" Maeve muttered.

"What did you have to go bring up Andromeda for – both of you?" Molly said.

"I just thought it would help push the two of you along…" Shane said.

"Wait a second – do you know?"

"Do I know that you know – about Arthur?"

"You know, don't you?"

Molly turned her glare to Maeve.

"What did you tell him?"

"Just a little," Maeve said.

"What's a little?" Molly hissed.

"That you know how Arthur feels…" Maeve said.

"And that you feel the same…" Shane added.

"MAEVE!"

"SHANE!"

"Alright – can we all come down and discuss this like we're adults…"

"You are very far from being an adult, Casey," Molly said scathingly.

"Molly, what happened?" asked Maeve.

"Arthur knows…" Molly sighed.

"He knows that you know?" Shane asked.

"Yes…"

"Well, why isn't that a good thing?" Maeve asked worriedly.

"I don't know, but he got all upset and left me standing in the Entrance Hall…"

"Maybe he just needs a bit of time…" Shane said.

"I hope so," Molly said, thinking it would be a shame if the day she realized she wanted to spend her life with Arthur Weasley was the day she lost him forever.


	9. Chapter 9: Fred and George

Chapter 9: Fred and George

Arthur completely avoided Molly for the next two days. He didn't look at her, and he wouldn't speak to her. She couldn't understand why, but every time she tried to talk to him about it, he muttered an excuse and left as quickly as he could.

"Ms. Prewett, may I have a word?"

Molly snapped out of her daze to find that Professor Dumbledore watching her concernedly. There were no students left in the classroom.

"I don't believe you paid a moment's attention in class, Ms. Prewett…" he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry Professor – I'm just … I was just thinking…"

"Well, that's perfectly alright, I do enjoy a good thought now and again, myself…" he mused.

"I'll make it up, I promise…" Molly told him.

"Well, now that you suggest it, I suppose it would be a good idea for you to stop by my classroom today, at about six o'clock in the evening, so that you can make up today's lesson."

"Oh… okay, Professor. I'll be here – thanks. And, again – I'm really sorry…"

"And before you go, here's you're essay back, as well – very good work, Ms. Prewett…"

Molly took the parchment he held out to her, "Adaptations taken for Vertebrate Vanishing" – there was a sparkling green 'O' drawn on the top.

"Oh, thank you Professor…" she exclaimed.

Dumbledore just nodded curtly, and Molly grabbed her book bag and quickly left the classroom. She found Maeve waiting for her outside.

"Why didn't you tell me class was over?" Molly snapped, as they moved towards the Great Hall for lunch

"I tried!" Maeve protested. "I even waved my hand in front of your face, snapped my fingers, poked you, pinched you, bit you…"

"You didn't bite me!" Molly said.

"And you would know that how?" Maeve asked. "I mean, you were in another universe…I don't suppose I should even ask what you were thinking about…"

"You know very well what I was thinking about," Molly told her.

"You know if you just talked to him…"

"I'll make a deal with you – you get him within five feet of me, and I'll talk to him," Molly said, trying her best not to sound hurt. It didn't work.

"I'm sure Shane was right, Mol – maybe Arthur just needs some time…"

"He's had two days," Molly said, turning to enter the Great Hall. "I don't know what he could be so upset about, anyway…"

"Hello ladies…" Shane interrupted, putting an arm around each girl as the three of them walked to the end of the Gryffindor table. "You know, Prewett – I was just thinking… when you and Arthur have kids, they'll probably all have red hair…"

"Shane, this probably isn't the best time…" Maeve muttered.

"All seven of 'em…" Shane continued, ignoring Maeve's warning. "Will you do me a favor Prewett, and name the first one Shane. I think I'd like that…"

"Shut up, Casey," Molly told him, sitting down to eat.

"What, you don't like 'Shane'?' he asked, hurt. "Well – what about William? William's my middle name…"

"Please stop…" Molly said, sounding tired.

"I'm sorry, Mol…" Shane apologized, sounding quite sincere. "I was just trying to lighten up the situation…you know, you shouldn't worry so much."

"What are you so worried about?" someone grunted from the other side of the table. They looked to see Alastor sitting down, throwing his book bag on the table.

"Oh, nothing Alastor…"

"Is someone threatening you, Molly?" he grunted.

"Where would you get that idea?" Shane laughed.

"Well… there are dark wizards about, you know…" Alastor growled. "Heard a rumor about this kid that went here just a few years back… he was Head Boy and all, but he's disappeared since he left Hogwarts. No one's seen him"

"So, what – you believe he was killed by dark wizards?" Maeve asked.

"No… of course not, Maeve…that's absurd," he growled. "He _is_ the dark wizard… who knows what he's getting up to, or when he'll be back…"

Maeve just watched Alastor with her mouth hung open in incredulity. Molly put her head down on the table and groaned. Alastor stopped his ranting about dark wizards.

"You know, Molly – I'm sure if you just talked to him…" he grunted.

---

That evening at about ten to six, Molly headed for Professor Dumbledore's classroom to make up her Transfiguration work. To her surprise, when she reached the class – she found that Dumbledore was not alone. Arthur was with him.

Molly recovered quickly from her temporary shock, and walked in with a falsely bright smile.

"Good evening, Arthur…" she said. "Didn't expect to see you here…"

"You were not the only one having difficulty paying attention in class today, Ms. Prewett," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

Arthur gave Molly a rather nervous smile, and then quickly turned his attention back to Dumbledore.

"Now, so as not to take up to much of your social lives with something as boring as Transfiguration, I suggest we get started right away. You have both Vanished your snails with excellent success, so expect you shouldn't have too much trouble with mice…"

Arthur and Molly just nodded and pulled out there wands. Dumbledore opened a box and put two mice in front of them, both with bright orange fur.

"These two I'm quite fond of," Dumbledore said. "Fred and George are their names, I do have trouble telling which is which of course, but I'll be sad to see them go…"

Molly didn't know whether he was serious or not; she tried to catch Arthur's eye, but he was immensely focused on the two mice.

"Oh, I've just remembered, I was supposed to meet Ogg about a renegade owl on the grounds – so I'll just leave the two of you to it, then?"

"But – how are we supposed to –" Molly spluttered.

"It's the same as Vanishing invertebrates, Molly – just with a few adjustments that I'm sure you're both fully aware of due to the excellent essays you both turned in… have fun, now," he said, and with that he stood up from his desk and swept out of the classroom.

Molly stared after him in disbelief. It was just all too convenient.

She turned to her mouse and silently began trying to vanish it. Neither she nor Arthur had much success.

"I think this one is Fred…" Molly said casually.

"Hm?" Arthur said.

"Fred, I think this one's Fred – he seems like a Fred…" Molly said.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Arthur said. "I suppose this one seems more like a George, too."

"So… do you want to talk about – "

"Not really, no."

They sat quietly another few minutes… Arthur managed to make 'George' Vanish, though there was a bit of red fur left on the desktop. Molly found this ironic, because all she'd been able to Vanish on 'Fred' _was_ his fur.

"Arthur – why are you so upset that I know?" Molly asked him suddenly, hoping to catch him off guard.

"Isn't it obvious?" he sighed timidly, his ears turning red.

"No, it's not actually…"

"Molly – I have feelings for you…" he said. "And now you know, and I just – I just liked it better before, that's all. It was easier. Now I have to face rejection…"

"What makes you think you have to face rejection?" Molly asked him softly.

"Well, it seems I already have, doesn't it?" he said, pointing his wand at the red mouse hairs on the table, vanishing them.

"What are you talking about?" Molly asked.

"Well, how long have you known, Molly?" he asked.

"Well, Maeve told me the first day of term – but I didn't really believe it until I overheard you and Shane in the library…"

Arthur looked up at her, the first time he'd done so in two days.

"So it was you? Who dropped the book…"

Molly nodded guiltily.

"Anyways… you've known, and you've had the chance to tell me how you feel, and you haven't, have you? I just assumed…"

"Assumed what? That because I haven't said anything, it means I don't feel the same?"

"That would be the obvious assumption, don't you think?" Arthur asked. "I mean – if you have feelings for someone and you know they feel the same, what do you do? You tell them, Molly… and you haven't done anything of the sorts… It's okay, I get it… you don't have to feel bad, it's alright…"

"Arthur – " Molly said, but they were interrupted by Dumbledore.

"Ah… sorry about that," he said. "Hope the two of you have sorted those mice out… but you should probably get downstairs for something to eat…"

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea…" Arthur said quickly, picking up his things and vanishing quickly from the classroom. Molly sighed and waved her wand over her hairless 'Fred', he disappeared instantly.

"Fantastic, Ms. Prewett – simply splendid work. It looked like there was hardly any effort at all…"

Molly just sighed, thanked Dumbledore, and left the classroom quickly, hoping to catch Arthur before he got to the Great Hall.


	10. Chapter 10: The Beginning

_A/N: The final chapter! Woot! I was going to open it up a bit, and drag you guys through until Chapter 11, but 10 is such a nice number, and due to my tendencies to be slightly obsessive compulsive, I just couldn't bring myself to do it._

_So, thanks for sticking with me through my first ever completed chapter story (Year Six will soon be the second!). _

_Hope you enjoy this chapter. Be kind and review, since this is the end._

Chapter 10: The Beginning

"Arthur! Arthur, please wait!"

Arthur stopped, reluctantly. He did not turn around, but his head hung low, and Molly could see his ears were red. She ran up to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Please don't do this Arthur…" she said, still breathless from running after him.

"Do what?" he asked, looking back at her.

"Don't run away…" Molly pleaded.

Arthur was silent for a moment, he searched her eyes with his own.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Molly?" he asked her.

Molly bit her lip. She wanted nothing more than to say 'yes, I have something to tell you,', to tell him that she felt the same, that she was falling in love with him, and that she briefly considered the sound of 'Molly Weasley' at least once a day. She wanted to throw her arms around him and confess it all. She looked back at him a few moments, hesitantly.

"No… I don't have anything to tell you," she said sadly.

"That's what I thought…" Arthur said, and he walked away from her, leaving her standing alone in the corridor.

"Well, that was a bit thick of you, don't you think?" one of the portraits said in disbelief.

Molly didn't respond, she just watched as Arthur walked away from her and then turned slowly and walked in the other direction, towards Gryffindor tower.

---

"Molly Prewett!"

Maeve entered the dormitory, slamming the door behind her.

"What in the name of Merlin is the matter with you?" she snapped, throwing her hands above her head and waving them around wildly. "Shane told me what happened between you and Arthur?"

"And how does Shane know?" Molly asked in a dead tone.

"Arthur told him, of course – and normally such information would be classified as Grade A Non-Tradeable goods, but these circumstances certainly call for intervention. These circumstances call for a right slap across the head! What were you thinking?"

"Would you just lower your voice a bit, Maeve?"

"Depends, do you plan on telling me your side of the story?"

"I don't have a side – I'm sure what you heard from Shane was the complete truth…"

"Alright then, would you like me to check you into St. Mungo's now or do you need some time?"

"I'm not mental, alright?"

"Oh really? Does this sound 'mental' to you, Molly? The guy of your dreams, who you know is head over heels for you, practically asks you if you feel the same and you practically say no. On top of that, you did it in spite of the fact that he's practically dying with embarrassment and hurt over the entire matter, so you decided to finish him off by reaching into his chest and ripping out his heart!"

Maeve stood staring manically at Molly, her arms crossed after finishing her rant. Molly looked back at her for just a few moments before bursting into tears.

"I don't know why…" she cried. "I just, I don't know, I was scared Maeve…"

Maeve immediately softened, rushing to Molly's bed and sitting next to her with her arm around her.

"Scared of what, Molly?" Maeve said soothingly, summoning tissues from across the room.

"I don't know… he was just standing there, looking at me," she sobbed. "And I was scared, I was scared that maybe he didn't really feel the same as I do. Maybe he just has some superficial infatuation and that it would scare him off to know how I felt. Or maybe that he loved the idea of me, and that once he got to know me better he'd realize that he's better off not being with me… or…"

"Shhh…" Maeve said, handing Molly the tissues. "You know that's not true, Mol… you know that's not true. Calm down… now, look at me, Molly."

Molly lifted her splotchy face up to Maeve's.

"Do you really believe that?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know…" Molly said. "I don't know. No, no – I don't. I'm just scared – I panicked…"

"How do you really feel?" Maeve asked.

"I love him," Molly said honestly.

"Then tell him that…" Maeve told her.

"I don't know…"

"Well, what's the big problem?" Maeve asked impatiently.

"I just have this big romantic image of him coming to me and telling me how he feels…" Molly said. "And then I tell him I feel the same, and then we ride off into the sunset…"

"Well, sorry love, but you're going to have to get over it because you've broken the poor boy's heart and you're just going to have to finish this yourself…"

Molly nodded and wiped her tears.

"Is he alright?" she sniffled.

"Well, he certainly looks better than you…" Maeve said. "But he is a right mess…"

"Is he downstairs now?" Molly asked, standing up.

"No, he's in his dormitory. But I'm sure the boys won't mind if you intrude…"

On that note, Molly left the dormitory, went down the staircase and that proceeded directly up the boys' staircase. She got to the door marked 'Fifth Years' and, taking a deep breath, knocked lightly on the door. There were some muffled voices and the sound of shuffling feet and a moment later Shane opened the door.

"Oh, it's you…" he said grimly.

"Shane, I need to speak with Arthur…"

"I'll let you in on one condition, Prewett…" he told her.

"Anything," she said.

He leant over to her.

"You tell him the truth this time…" he whispered.

"I promise," Molly said.

Shane eyed her for a moment.

"Alright Alastor, Arthur has a visitor, I think we should skedaddle…"

"I'm leavin'," Molly heard Alastor growl.

She stepped aside for the two of them to leave, before entering cautiously.

"Oh, hi…" Arthur said, surprised to see her.

"Hi," she said timidly.

"You're face is all red," he said. "Have you been –"

"Crying?" Molly finished. "Yes."

Arthur nodded and opened his mouth to say something, but the words apparently got lost and he remained quiet.

"I'm here to apologize about earlier…" Molly said quietly, moving closer to him.

"What's there to apologize for?" Arthur said, his cheeks turning pink as he stuffed his hand in his robes pocket. "All you did was tell the truth, after all…"

"Actually, I didn't tell the truth," she said. She moved closer again.

"Excuse me?" Arthur spluttered.

"I lied."

"About what?" Arthur asked, swallowing hard.

"I do have something to tell you, Arthur…" she told him. There was now only a foot between them.

"And what's that?" he asked throatily, his face bright red now.

"I've fallen in love with you."

Time seemed to stand still for a moment. She had said it so simply, and the silence that followed was deafening. Arthur was afraid to look at her.

"Molly that's not funny…" he said painfully.

"Of course it's not funny – it's the truth. Arthur, I love you," she felt her own face burning red, now. "Please believe me… it's true."

Arthur looked at her, but couldn't seem to find words.

"Do you still not believe me?" Molly asked anxiously.

"I can't…" he breathed. "It's been so long… I-I don't know how to even begin –"

He didn't finish, because Molly threw her arms around him and kissed him. She almost expected him to pull away, but he didn't. After a few stunned moments, she felt him relax, and his hands removed themselves from his pockets and his arms wrapped around her, too.

It was warm and perfect and more than either ever imagined it could have been.

After another few moments, she slowly drew back, taking in a deep breath as she did so. Their faces were still only an inch apart; a single tear escaped Molly's eye, and Arthur, smiling down at her, lifted his hand and wiped it way.

"Well, I - I certainly believe you now," he stammer with a small laugh, blushing furiously. "And, Molly - I love you too."

He kissed her again. When their lips parted for the second time, Molly rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry about earlier..." Molly said. "I should have said something, I panicked – I'm just an idiot, I suppose…"

"You're not an idiot," Arthur told her, laughing slightly. "I'm the one who took five years to come around…"

"Yes, but you assumed that I didn't feel the same – I knew how you felt, and I still didn't say anything…"

"Let's just call it even," Arthur suggested.

"Alright, then…" Molly agreed.

They stood in each other's arms, looking fondly at one another for a moment.

"Can we come in now?" Maeve's muffled voice came from behind the door.

Molly couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes…" she called.

The door burst open and Maeve and Shane came in, faces aglow

"I suppose you don't need to be filled in on what happened?" Arthur muttered shyly.

"Well, we got the audio, mate," Shane said, winking. "But we wouldn't mind catching a glimpse of any visuals we missed."

"What do you think?" Molly asked Arthur.

"Couldn't hurt," he said.

They kissed again, and this time it lasted even longer than the first two. Maeve coughed loudly and they stopped, and looked back at Shane and Maeve, who looked almost insane with delight.

"Well, it's about bloody time!" Maeve cheered.

"Watch your language, Maeve!" Molly said, though she was smiling broadly.

Shane looked back and forth between Molly and Arthur.

"So, you'll be naming your firstborn William, then?"


End file.
